First, we're going to be moving servers and doing a number of other things behind the scenes here, so don't look for a Blog update from me until at least Black Friday, November 23rd (provided all goes well of course!).

So, I wanted to just post some initial thoughts on Sharp's BD-PHP20U Blu-ray Disc player, and some other next-gen HD related issues for you to chew on over the next week. You know, just in case you miss me. Forgive me more type-os than usual. I"m coming in right under the gun just before the time I was told not to post more stuff!

The Sharp has been highly anticipated for its $499-ish price and promised quick startup times. On the first front, it's actually selling for $449 at Circuit City's web site, so scoreboard there. On the startup times, not so much.

Some new start time torture tests arrived on BD in the form of Pixar's recent discs. I ran Cars and Fox' Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer to run some tests. The results were interesting.

The "Quick Start' feature must be found and engaged in the setup menu, and the manual claims as its sole downside increased power consumption. Big deal if it loads one of these discs in under a minute. [Updated Text From This Point On- Read Comment Below- SB] Well, not with all discs it doesn't. While the Pixar discs allow the "Top Menu" button to skip through the bulk of promotional materials, the Fox discs I tried don't.

While the Sharp was faster with the P{ixar discs, it was not appreciably faster than Pioneer's BDP-HD94 with FF4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. FF4 took two and half to three minutes to load to the disc menus on either player, regardless of the Sharp's "Quick Start." Ugh.

By comparison, Sony's PlayStation3 loaded FF4 in under a minute and Cars and Ratatouille in less than 40 seconds using the Top Menu button (note again that Top Menu didn't work with the combo of FF4 and the PS3). If you have kids and want to watch these movies, the PS3 is the bomb, man.

So, to be fair, with certain discs so far it appears that the Sharp can be faster than Pioneer's standalone player, but isn't in the PS3's league. Look for the full dope on the Sharp by early December if not sooner.

Laugh out loud moment of the week- the menu that pops up on the Pixar Blu-ray discs after about a minute (!) in standalone player and says something to the effect that depending on your player's capabilities, the discs could take 2-3 minutes to load. If that's not a painful admission I don't know what is.

Not so laugh out loud- Ratatouille will have the same loading lag time issues as Cars in a lot of players. If you watched them for all 14 minutes worth- and we know, Tom Norton timed them.

You'd think that since Disney obviously knows how brutal the startup times are they might have decided to at least cut down the number of trailers.

Here's my proposal for new QC at Disney. Whoever's in charge of such decisions, sit down with your kids and see if you can get the movie to start before they get bored and leave. If you can't, send it back.

Last, lest I become known as the Blu-ray curmudgeon. Ahem. I have been absolutely blown away by the most important aspects of the the recent spate of Blu-ray releases. The picture and sound quality on all of the Pixar releases has been nothing short of mind-bending, a new reference standard entirely. With both Cars and Ratatouille not a minute went by without seeing something that just made my jaw drop to the floor. Hard. The sound was no less inviting, but visually these discs just stun, and knock up the artisitic intent about 75 notches.

Don't ask me why our own intrepid Tom Norton chose to review Close Encounters on Blu-ray in spite of being one of the only two insane people I know who don't actually like the movie (don't say it Vaughn, I know the other ne is you!). But I love this movie in every way, and for me this and Blade Runner are the two biggest HD catalog releases of the year, bar none. And the BD delivers in spades.

I have seen this movie theatrically many times as a youngster and an adult, and seen every single incarnation on every home video medium. And yes, that includes the Criterion CAV Laserdisc set. The only faults I see on the new BD have been present in every form I've seen the movie to varying degrees, leading me to believe the original photography and (occasionally) effects are the only limits to the image quality.

And Tom and I often feel different about presentations that preserve a certain amount of film grain, as Close Encounters on BD does. For me this new Blu-ray release is almost revelatory in its sharpness, clarity, color saturation and vividness, and natural depth and balance. I've never seen it look anywhere near this good, something my wife even commented on, having sat through many of these home video incarnations with me over the years.

In short, I think any fan of the film will be nothing short of thrilled with this new Blu-ray release of Spielberg's classic. Classic Tom, classic! Fifty million CE3K fans can't be wrong, man!

Til next week- have a happy and safe holiday! Loosen that belt!